A former Upton High School student is running the London Marathon this year, inspired by work she is doing for her PhD.
Beth Mann, 22, is studying at the MRC (Medical Research Council) and Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, a collaboration between King's College London and Imperial College.
Beth said: “Running the marathon on April 13 is more of a challenge than I ever imagined but it's a great opportunity to raise awareness and money for charity.
“I chose Asthma UK because my PhD is in the field, I have mild asthma and I strongly feel that it is a condition that it often dismissed as being non serious.
"For many people asthma can be a minor condition causing minimal disturbance to their lives, however for others it is debilitating on a daily basis and kills three people every day in the UK.
“The UK has an exceptionally high incidence of asthma (5.4 million people) which is continuing to rise. “Although symptoms are often well controlled by the use of steroids and bronchodilators, certain patients are unresponsive to such therapies; these individuals spend much of their lives in hospital which places a huge strain on the patient and their loved ones, but is also a considerable economic burden to society.
“This is where research steps in; we need to enhance our understanding of what causes asthma and develop new therapies based on this knowledge. Treatment needs to target the cause of asthma and not just the symptoms."
Beth says that training is going well, with the exception of a week off ironically due to asthma.
Se added: “The longest run so far is 21.6 miles and I am running 40 miles a week at the moment.
“I have started to taper off training now so that my legs are fresh for the race.”
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